Automobile-signal



F. J. DURAN AND 0. H. KIRCHNER.

AUTOMOBILE SIGNAL.

APPLICATION FILED ocT. 1919.

Patented July 27, 1920.

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vAPPucATloN FILED 0m15.191s.

n Patented July 27, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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mm: J. vom AND o'r'ro H. KIRCHNER., 0E HOEOKEN, NEW JERSEY.

nU'roMoBILE-SIGNAL.

Specification of Letters "Patent Patented uly 27, 1920.

Application sied o'ctobe'r s; i919. serial N'o. 329,404.

lTo all 'whom 'it may concern: v Y Y Be it known that we, FRANK J. DOEAN and O'r'ro H. KCHNER, citizens 'of the United States, and residents of Hoboken,

in the county of Hudson and State of vNew l Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in 'Automobile Signals,

of which the following is a specification.

. This invention has as vits main 'object to provide an apparatus capable 'of indicating, to observers at the rear of a vehicle, the

proposed turning direction or Stopping of 1 the same, the apparatus being lreadily attachable `to ordinary manually vdirected vehicles of self propelled types without change therein. v y Y A 'further Objectis to c'ombinewith the movable parts mea-ns for displaying a light so that anv eihcient visible signal may be given in the dark as well as in the light.

Another object is to provide means whereby upon the manual depres'soii of 'certain i conveniently .located buttons, either orb'oth f .of the signal arms are automaticallyVv extended, while the pull exerted on a signal knob returns'them to their initial position, the entire apparatus being normally 'dis- Yposed. inthe vehicle, in front of the operator and-occupyinga minimum of space Vnot vOtherwise used.,

.These and einer like objeta, what' ein become more-fully apparentas ,the description, progresses, are; attained by the novel .gonstruction and.. combination Yof Apartshereinafter described andV shown, in the acrcompanying drawings, formingY a material `part ofthis disclosure, y and which;-

' Figure 1 is a perspective viewshowing a Vdirection lindicator made inaccordance with the invention andfillustrating its application.

- view ofthes'ame, the casing cover being VVrevmoved. j

Fig,V 2 is "a .fragmentary front elevational E ,3 is ah`oriz'ontal Vsectional, 'vie'w, taken larged scale'. i Fig. 4 is `a further enlargedrtransverse sectionalvie'w, taken on: linee-'l1 of Fig., 2.

' Fig.` 5 is `asimilar,sectional view,taken oiiliiie 5 5 of Fig. 2. .6 is a front-elevationalview' of the j Operating mechanism, and,

L Figgt is a vertical sectionalvi'ew show- -,sa;

ing thefoot,control. U y., Referr'ngto the drawingsin detail, 'the y plate 27.

numeral 15 designates' general'a conventional type of automobile,.having seats 16 and a foot board 17 on which are mounted the lcontrol elements including the brake lever 18.

The steering post 19 surmounte-d by the' hand wheel 20 extends through the footb'0a1id,"over which is' the dash-board 21, surmouuted by the wind shield 22,all of these several parts being of ordinary .construction and not a part of the'present invention.

Fixed centrally upon the upper part of the dash-board 21 is an oblong rectangular V4 metal casing, its ends, respectively right and Lleft,,beingdesignated 25 and 25', while centi'al'ly at the front is a hollow narrow ex-A tension 26 provided with` a hinged cover tween the backs ofthe gears' 31 and j31 to which the outerV end of the yspringis'atfachdy Aband 36 encircles the spring 35 and atpropriat'e opening in the cover 27 where' it isatta'ched to a pull knob 38 convenient VVof access by an operator and provided with a cushion spring 39 to prevent shock and noise `as the handle is' vreleased and d rawn sharply against the cover by the action of the spring 35.

AA pairv of l fixed in the rear wall ofthe casing and rev. l v'oluble on them are spur gears 41 and 41 screw `studs-110 and 40 are Vformed .with integral]-grooved sheaves 42 `and 42 ontheir'upper surfaces.-Y

j vAlso pivotally mountedon the upperends of the studs 40 and 40 a're'bell-crank levers apparent.

lltached to the band isV one end of alcord 37 itsnopposite end extending through an-aphaving arms 4,4 and 44 carrying studs- 45v and 45 on which fare revolubly mounted pinions kv16` and lrengaged with the ,gears V41 andV tlf and also engageableY withfthe pinions32 and 32 as will hereafter becomev Vfeo The other arms 48 and 48 of the bellcrank levers are normally drawn toward the center ofthe casing by tension springs 49 and 49 Xed at their respective ends to the lever aims and casinf side walls, thus hold-4 ing the pinions out or operative engagement.

Attached to the extremeV outer ends of the AVVlever arms 48 and 48 by pivot screws 50 or edges of the dash-board 21,to which they are attached.

Slidably engaged in these guides are bars 56 and 56, which are extensible beyond the ends of the guides under certain conditions but which are normally held in retracted position therein by hook catches 57 and 57 ysecured Vto their 'inner vends, these catches engaging Ywith detents 58 and 58ii'formed on lever bars 59 and 59', pivoted on Vscrews 60 and 60 set in the casing.

Y vThe inner ends 61 and 61 of the lever Y bars closely approach at the center of the casing and lixed therebelow, parallel `with the wall ofthe easing, is a guide plate 62,-

through which the Vstems 63 and 63, and 64 of push buttons-65 and 65 and 66, freely pass, the stems being further guided by the top rwall of the casing. 1 Y

F iXed transversely in the stems 68 and 63 are pins 67 and 67', adaptedrto. make contact with the leverbar ends 61 and 61" so that either Vmaybe depressed, thereby'releasing the corresponding slides 56 andv 56,

these lever bar ends being held in ,anormally raised position due to the coiledfcompression springs 68 .and 68disposed between them andthe fixed guide plate 62.

f A pin 70, set in the stem 64 makes contact with the inner ends lof the lever barsv 61 and 6l` simultaneously uponA rdepression of the centerpush button 66 wheneverV both of the slides are to be released.

This result is also accomplished ,b'ya prolongation 71 of the stem 64 to which is attached a link 72 connecting with the bellcrank lever `arm 73, the lever 'being ful- 'crumedin a bracket 74 attached to the lower p artof the dash-board 21, its other arm 75 engaging with thefpedally operated brake lever 18, as best shown in Fig.' 7.

The slides'56` and 56", when freed of the Y detents and catches, are `forced, outward in Formed in the slides are recesses 76 and 76 in which, jourthe following manner.

-naled onl fixed studs 'T7-and 77, are drums V78and 7 8', annularly recessed and containing spirally coiledy flat springs -7 9 and 79',

one endV of thesprings being "secured Y ltheir outer ends.

54 but returned to their initial positions through the lenses.

fixed studs and the other to the interior of the drums, which have wound upon them cords k80 and 80,these.cords being secured at one end to the drums and extending in vlongitudinal recesses formed in the edges of the slides to clips 81 and 81 secured on the inner sides of the guides and 55 near Thus the tension of the springs 7 9 and 79 causes the drums to rotate, coiling the cords upon them and advancing the slides outwardly when free to move.

The ultimate outward movement of the slides brings stops 84 and 84,secured to their inner ends, into operative engagement with the pins 54 and 54 and through their connections turning .the bell-crank lever arms 44 and 44 downward so as to engage the pinion couples 32 and 46and 32 and 46 so that the same may be actuated by pulling the knob 38. i

The slides 56' and 56 are retracted or drawn inwardly byfcords 86 and 86Y normally wound upon thesheaves 42 and .42', to which they are attached at one end, the otherl ends of Ythe cords being fixed to clips 87v and 87 secured to the inner ends of the respective slides, sothat as power is trans- -mitted through the gears when enmeshe the slides are moved inwardly.

Itymay here be explained that the force of Y the springs 79, is greater than the sprinofs 49, so that the bell-crank levers Iare moved upon contact ofthestops 84 and pins ,Y

when the winding operation of the sheaves has been performe..

Carried near the; outer ends of the slides 56 and 56V are colored lenses 90 and. 90 having behind them electricV lamps 91 and 91Y connected by lead wires 92f93 and 92-93 with spring contacts 94-495 and 942-495 Vfixed in the slides 'at their inner front edges,

adjacent to the extension casings` 55' and 55.

Fixed upon the lower sides of these casings, are insulated Vbrackets' 98--99 and 98-`-99., the inner pair carrying fixed .con-A tacts 1'00 and 101 engageable with the spring contacts 94 and 95, while the outer pair of brackets carry contacts 102 and 103 enga-geable with the same spring contacts being connected by feed wires 104 andv 105 leading from any convenient source of electrical energy and" controlled bythe circuit Thus when the slides/vare either a fully retracted oreirtended position, and the switch closed, aV V-signal light will show In operation,let it `be assumedpthatit is the intention ,tovturn` the vehicle to the right,V whereupon the buttons willbe de-VVV pressedf. fllhisactionfreleases the slide 56V iio wl'ienftheslides are in an extendedposition,

vthe'liXedl contacts 100, V101, 102 and 103 which is instantly moved to its extreme outer position by the spring 79 causing the cord to be wound on the drum and when the slide is fully extended the pinions 32 and 46 are caused to mesh, the lights showing, if the switch 106 is closed.

Upon making the turn the knobor handle 38 is drawn outward, causing the gears 31 to rotate, which motion is conveyed to the gear drum 41, winding the cord 86 upon it and retracting the slide.

If it is desired to indicate an intention to stop the vehicle, the signal is given by extending both slides simultaneously either by depressing the center button 66 manually, or by operating the brake lever 18, which by reason of its connections accomplishes the same purpose.

If the vehicle be used in the dark, both lights are caused to show at all times except during the momentary interval of their travel, which, because of its brevity, is negligible.

The foregoing disclosure is to be regarded as descriptive and explanative rather than limitative of the invention, of which obviously7 minor modifications may be made within the scope of the appended claims.

It will be apparent that a neat appearing device for the purpose set forth has been disclosed and that the same is capable of efficient operation in an easy and convenient manner, and further, that the attachment can be readily applied to vehicles of presently existing constructions.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A direction indicator comprising a casing, guide arms extending oppositely therefrom, slides movable in said arms, spring actuated means for extending said slides, detents engageable with said slides when retracted, manually operable means Jfor releasing saiddetents, geared drums rotatable in said casing, cords attached to said slides adaptedv to be wound on said drums, bellcrank levers pivoted on the axis of said drums, pinions carried by one of the arms of said bell-crank levers, manually operable gear trains engageable by said pinions, and

means for shifting said pinions into mesh therewith said means becoming operative upon the full extension of said slides.

2. A direction indicator for vehicles, comprising a casing, a pair of opposed guides extending therefrom, bars slidable in said guides, means carried in said slides whereby they are normally projected out-V wardly, an interrupted gear train-for each of said slides, means for enmeshing the elements of said gear trains by said slides when fully extended, manually operated means for actuating said gear trains, retracting connections between said gear trains and said slides, spring actuated detents for retaining said slides when retracted, means for releasing said slides individually, means for releasing both of said slides simultaneously and means engaged with the brake of the vehicle for actuating the last named release means.

Signed at Hoboken, in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, this the 16th day of September, A. D. 1919.

FRANK J. DORAN. oTTo H. KIRCHNER.

'loY 

